Bondol, Jean

(active 1368-1381)

   Manuscript illuminator and tapestry designer from Bruges who headed the manuscript workshop of King Charles V of France. Bondol's illuminations show his desire to create rational spaces and naturalistic figures, as exemplified by the Parting of Lot and Abraham in the Bible of Jean de Sy (c. 1380; Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Ms. 15397, fol. 14) believed to be by his hand. His Charles V and Jean de Vaudetar in the Bible Historiée (1371; The Hague, Rijksmuseum Meermanno-Westreenianium, Ms. 10 B 23, fol. 2) shows the French king dressed as a master of arts from the University of Paris. He receives the manuscript from the kneeling Vaudetar, who paid for the work. His throne is shown in three-quarter view to add depth to the image, this negated by the fleur-de-lis patterning in the background. The Gotha Missal in the Cleveland Museum of Art (c. 1375), named after its 18th-century owners, has also been attributed to Bondol and his workshop and is believed to have been intended for King Charles' private chapel. The mushroomlike trees, the figures rendered mostly in grisaille and set against a polychromatic background, and the gold decorative scrolls in the missal are characteristic of Bondol's style.

   See also Illuminated manuscript.